I'm really not an ambidextrious person, so this is kind of weird. I'm right handed, but it always feels better to have my left foot forward in a trackstand. Then this morning on my way to pick up some Jameson, I'm cruising and randomly skipping just for practice. I've been trying to practice the skips more, but since I hardly ever actually have to use them, I don't.

What I noticed was that my right leg is the better one for stopping - I was skidding the back wheel with that one alone. I didn't even need to lift up/unweight the rear wheel to do it, straight up in the saddle. After 5 or 6 random skips on the way to the liq, I realized that it was always with the pedals in the same position, and always the right leg doing the digging. So I tried to do it with the left foot in the same position, and found myself detached from my left pedal (I do need new cleats, they should be here soon) and I'm kind of wondering why. What happened is that I couldn't get enough back pressure, and the pedal kept moving away from where I was stopping my foot.

My left leg is stronger, it's the one that controls all the balance in the trackstand. That really works the muscle on the back of your thigh (at least, that's the one I feel getting worked) which is the same one you use to stop.

Anyone else have different legs? Or am I just kind of crazy using one leg to stop and the other to trackstand? Are there bad consequences to training the two differently, as I seem to have been doing?

everyone has different legs and a higher comfort zone on one side of the body, that's why there are goof foot and regular foot surfers, and why telemark skiers always favor a turn to one side or the other when starting down a dicey section. you can retrain, but it's the head that has to learn the lesson. ever try riding a snowboard goofy? you know what to do but in the beginning you have to think your way through every part of every turn, like riding backwards on a fixie.

Never tried riding a snowboard... Skating was not goofy foot, left foot front there... Maybe that's what it's from? Originally learning to steer with the left and push with the right...

Anyways, I gotta go get my eyes looked at, or I won't make it through winter...

It is a good idea to get as close as possible to being able to skid on each pedal since we do not get to choose when the cars dart out it front of us or cut us off.
I believe the military used this as a marketing line once:
"Be Prepared."

That was the boy scouts.

Of course, you wouldn't know that since you were out selling girl scout cookies.

Later.

I gotta support my meth addiction somehow.

But [165] got to hang with the girls and eat those thin mint cookies while you boy scouts were out tying knots or building fires.

you might end up with one massive leg, bristling with muscle, and another girly-man stick leg. you never know.

i actually prefer trackstanding leading with my left, and to stop/skid by pulling back with my right. as [165] mentioned, it's best to be ambidextrous to be able to react to situations. but i think the exercise your muscles will get from these practices is minimal compared to just riding your bike.

you should take some pics if your legs start looking 'funny'!

mcsurf,

ya ride the waves?

I notice that I favor my left leg too- yesterday, I was riding in the streets and absentmindedly decided to try using my right leg. I almost fell into the traffic, pedalled backwards and caught myself with my left leg.

Sadly, I do notice that my left leg is also slightly more muscular than my right leg too. It's a little more defined with muscle definition. I've decided to weight train each leg separately and to do one legged drills on my rollers this winter, as well as practice using my right leg more often. I hate to think I have a muscle imbalance.

Koffee

when you have the pedals level, the leg back is the leg that is bearing the weight, so your right leg would actually be the one thats being used more, and that would make sense, since you are right-handed.

In most sports, if you are right-handed, it is your left leg that does the majority of the work. I have the knee surgery scars to back this up. For instance, throwing a baseball right-handed, you plant with the left foot. Dunking a basketball right-handed, you jump off your left leg. Right-handed hockey shot, same difference. and on and on....

i'd agree with you if you were right on this one... during a trackstand more of your weight is over the front wheel, so more of your weight is being supported by your forward foot (if you're trackstanding uphill). if you're trackstanding downhill, you'd still have your weight mostly over the front wheel, but you'd have more pressure on your back foot. if you're trackstanding on level ground, then weight distribution depends on which direction you're correcting. when i'm riding my road bike and standing up while coasting, i usually have my weight distributed between my legs equally. if you didn't evenly distribute your weight to both pedals, you'd end up riding with the pedals straight up and down, instead of level. balance.

at any rate, i can skid and trackstand with either foot forward. it took a while for me to be comfortable doing things with my right foot forward, but it's paid off more than a few times. now if i could only ride bmx with my right foot forward....

rollers?

they're for people w/out fgs.

skate, surf goofy. Trackstand is easier with left foot forward but this is mostly due to the fact that in SF we drive on the right side of the road. Other foot forward works fine too though. Skips and skids work well on both sides with a slight preference for the right foot forward. Again this has mostly to do with the silly braze-on on the left side of the top tube.

Uh, no, I'm usually leaned forward in the stand with my weight on the left. The only time that the weight is shifted to the right is when I need to roll back a few feet...

I'm not expecting massive muscle difference, since pedaling is used far more than skiding/skiping. I should have mentioned I was thinking along the lines of ligament/cartalidge damage.

As far as reacting, the whole reason I'm practicing this stuff is because it's nice and misty wet out today, so it's really easy. I have yet to encounter a situation day-to-day that required more than backpedaling, except on the Sat night rides. Most of the time I see stuff coming far in advance, but when you are in a sea of blinkies and drunk, it's easy to miss that stop sign with the cars coming... They take a lot more downhills than I usually do, too, which is bad for us brakeless idiots... Which is usually just me...

I did pull off a couple with the left foot on the way back from the eye doc, but they weren't nearly as good, and not at the same speed. I also had to intentionally pic up the back wheel and think about it, not like the right where I can just dig it and be skidding...

Yeah... are they the ones that taught him to wear dresses and makeup? I do hope that it was when he was much younger...

At least knowing how to build a fire comes in handy once a week for me... If I could only find a use for the knots

I envy him getting to eat all those thin mints, though. Those are GOOD!

i tend to lead with my left with track standing, and lead with my right while skidding... enough so that when i have to trade out my speedplays for platforms i only use a clip on the right pedal... i hate toe clips...

Dunno, but I think it has to do with the side of the road you ride on in the states...
You lead a trackstand with the left foot because your on the right side of the road, normally with a slope going down to your right. So, it makes sense to turn your wheel to the left, and leading with the left foot.
While in the UK, it's opposite, so I lead with my right foot, turning the wheel to the right with the normal slope. I'm also right handed and use my right foot to skid, like you.
I'm kinda worried that eventually, all this right footed dominance might make my left redundent.

i dont get why a trackstand would be such a workout. maybe its harder when you are standing up? i usually just sit and 'stand'.

another thing that i have found useful (and fun) is skidding into turns and around corners. with a left turn its much more comfortable to skid with the left foot forward (and right turns with the right foot forward). i can grind all the way though a right turn, but lefts i can never hold as long and i start to skip.

in general my left foot forward skids are usually pretty wimpy, i start skipping and cant hold it nearly as long. when im going real fast and need to stop with the left foot forward, i usually do a left foot 'skip-skip' and then let it go into a longer right foot skid.

i say you should just practice by *only* skidding or trackstandng with your weak side. thats how i got over the trackstand issue and its what i do now with the left foot skid (unless its a sudden stop and my right foot is forwards when i need to skid). it helps and it makes a repetitive commute a bit more interesting.

techone, good theory perhaps with some merit, but not universally so. I'm a goofy trackstander (also goofy inline skating, but normal snowboarding--go fig). I've been working on my left-foot-forward stands, but they're nowhere near as solid as my default stance.

Interesting point made about when being right handed, it often results in the left side being more exercised...this is the same in rowing........Im a right hander, and have rowed stroke side mainly. I have found it easier to control the feathering with my right hand, and means you end up pulling more (more leverage) with the left arm

Niall